a generic geographic term used to describe a coastal plain with rivers that feed a bay or low coastal land that is inundated by water at flood tide. There are many “tidewaters” across the nation and the globe. In the United States, tidewaters include such locations as Myrtle Beach SC, New Orleans LA, portions of Maryland facing the Chesapeake Bay, Outer Banks NC, Tidewater OR and coasts on the Gulf of Mexico.

On a global perspective, for instance, the regions of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Maldives struck by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami are all tidewaters.

Hampton Roads is located in the southeastern coastal tidewater of Virginia, a gateway to the world.